Anachronism
by Cybat
Summary: A powerful pit fighter finds himself severely out of place. Other mages follow him, with varying intentions. My first m:tg fic. r&r! Believe it or not, finally updated again!
1. Prologue

(A/N: Well, I don't suppose anyone here remembers me from old-school Super Smash Brothers fics? No, I didn't think so. My fics will be way down at the bottom there now, but I was intrigued by the appearance of a M: tG category since I abandoned fanfics in the fall. 

Sorry about the run-on there. 

I've been playing Magic since around the release of Urza's Saga (mmm…Morphling…) but I have never paid much attention to the novels. Therefore, in case I make an error, don't be too upset.

By the way, when you see "he concentrated: _spellname_," that obviously means he is about to cast that spell. I think that's it…enjoy!)

Anachronism

Raonull stepped forward, clutching his scalded arm. He had expected a challenge from this embermage, but he had not expected such a vicious attack. After a few preliminary spells to test each other, his opponent, Purcell, had launched a huge Lava Burst at Raonull's sword arm. 

Raonull despised the Cabal for this. With his extensive skill in all five colors, he could easily negate Purcell's searing blasts, but the Patriarch had predictably forbidden a quick victory. 

"Time to burn, weakling!" Purcell shouted, using all his mana to summon a deadly fireball. Raonull could see the vitality leaving Purcell's face as the embermage poured more and more power into the finishing blow. Everyone in attendance except Purcell, a newcomer, knew that the fight would not end this early. The Patriarch would intervene, if necessary.

It was not necessary. Raonull cast a spell that allowed him to search his inventory and delved deep into his repertoire, finding the perfect spell for this situation. He knew that his white spells would provide the necessary solution, so he racked his brain for knowledge of Samite and Cho-Arrim healing techniques. Purcell, assuming his opponent to be in a state of prayer rather than concentration, launched his fireball directly at Raonull's head. 

Ignoring the impending attack, Raonull finally selected the proper spell. He concentrated hard: Samite Ministration.

In a dramatic flash of light, the fireball dissipated into tiny sparks. Purcell watched in horror as the force of the ball was transformed into light and energy for Raonull. Noticing Purcell's look of utter dismay, Raonull could not help but taunt, "Nice try, firebrand."

Purcell roared in anger and prepared another spell, but priority had already passed to Raonull. Tapping into his black mana, he summoned a creature so noxious that he had to pay much of the life he had gained to sustain it. He concentrated: Minion of the Wastes.

Borrowing a small amount of red mana, he infused the creature with enough energy to attack immediately with the help of a Mark of Fury. Acknowledging the audience's cheering with a wave, Raonull sent the monster trampling over to Purcell's side of the arena. The embermage desperately released the energy he had been charging as a small blaze, but the monster would not be stopped so easily. With a blow that echoed through the stadium, Purcell soon found himself intimately familiar with the structure of the arena's walls.

The crowd roared in approval. Raonull raised his sword, which he only used for decoration most of the time, and headed back outside. Suddenly, the champion felt Psychic Venom poisoning his green mana. He turned around to see Yogini, Purcell's partner, who had been nursing her blue magic. Already at low life because of the minion, Raonull reluctantly resolved to avoid green magic. 

"You will pay for humiliating my partner!" she shrieked, summoning a colossal Tidal Kraken to charge. 

"Maybe another time," Raonull replied, bored. He casually used some black mana to strike Terror into the monster, but suddenly felt his power disappearing.

"Are you _sure_ you want to do that?" Yogini taunted, employing a counterspell to save her creature.

Raonull shook his head. "You blue mages and your counterspells," he muttered, invoking Multani's Presence to negate the disadvantage of countered spells. Seeing the fury in Yogini's eyes, he concentrated briefly on Soul Feast to distract her; she triumphantly countered that spell. Then, he moved in for the kill. He concentrated: Time Walk. Slowing down time would allow him to compose himself and regain his strength. He Disenchanted the offending Psychic Venom, then used his safe green mana to summon a Verdant Force. 

Yogini looked on in despair as the elemental loomed over her, but she was out of counterspells and could do nothing to stop it until time resumed its normal course. With his Mark of Fury, he sent Verdant Force to battle with the Kraken. 

A saproling appeared, and Yogini assumed priority was hers again. She had just learned the Time Warp spell, but she furiously reflected that she could do nothing to stop the elemental from destroying her. Denying the audience the pleasure of a long battle, she cast Time Warp on Raonull so that she could take her loss and leave quickly.

Raonull tried to shout to Yogini to stop her spell, but it was too late. She had not realized that the Force, outside the effects of the Time Walk spell, would generate saprolings although he himself was still in slow time. When he recognized a Time Warp targeting him, he had no idea what would happen to him. He also felt a sharp pain in his skull; apparently Yogini had accepted her defeat but was determined to make him suffer, and she had cast Psychic Purge. So close to death, the purge hurt far more than it should have, and he chose to undergo Convalescent Care and slip into unconsciousness while he waited for the Verdant Force to defeat Yogini. The deafening roar of the crowd was all that he sensed as everything went black.

Raonull awoke slowly, checking first the status of his mind and mental library. Physical injuries are far less important than cerebral damage to a mage. Ensuring that everything was in order, he tested all of his limbs and digits. Finding no serious harm, he opened his eyes to see a most peculiar sight before him.

"Hey, there, you OK?"

Raonull saw an extremely obese man – if that description even applied – standing over him worriedly. Standing up quickly, Raonull was able to see around the man, and almost fell over in shock. Wherever he was, it was certainly not the Pits. It looked more like a scene from ancient Thran life: machinery and artifacts everywhere. Huge steel constructions blocked the sun, and metallic beasts raced across the roads. The few humans he could see were nothing like the humans he remembered. He saw strange haircuts, bizarre clothing, and shiny trinkets that gave off no magical aura whatsoever.

"I said, are you OK?" the large man asked again. 

Raonull, relieved that these people at least spoke his language, answered, "Yes, I think so. Where am I, please?"

"You've got to be kidding me. Where are you? You're in New York City, pal. You're not from around here, are ya?"

Adapting to the dialect, the mage muttered, "Not exactly."

"That's OK, we get that all the time here. Your English is pretty good."

With that, the man walked cheerfully away. Raonull noticed that the man carried an obviously artificial meat product. What kind of deadly animal disease would prompt that dietary change? And this "English"…Raonull had no idea what that was, and whether being proficient in it would be beneficial.

Exploring further, Raonull detected basically no magical energy in this New York City. Certainly, the forests and mountains and so on were present, but their mana was lethargic and not very useful. Fortunately, Raonull carried his mana sources around with him in his mind.

"By Urza!" he shouted suddenly, looking up in the air. A dragon artifact creature soared through the skies, traveling at phenomenal speeds. It was so quiet, no one seemed to notice it. Raonull was not about to let his new home be destroyed by this airborne menace. He would have to battle it, and determine its origin later. He had not heard of such powerful artifacts since the Brothers' War. Grimly, Raonull realized he needed something powerful for this fight.

He concentrated: Shivan Dragon.

(A/N: OK, so I bent the rules a little bit. Anyway, what chaos will the dragon provoke, and how will Raonull get back home? R&R please!)


	2. Introductions

(A/N: Sorry about the delay…moving in to college and everything is tough. Anyway, I'm finally here at Brown and settled in, so on with the fic!)

Chapter 2: Introductions

Owen Affalle was not distracted easily.

That said, the strangely-dressed man who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere snatched Owen's attention like a frog snapping up a meal. It wasn't only his dress, either. It was everything about him…his mannerisms, his dialect, his intense and fearful curiosity. 

He had never been much of a science fiction fan, but Owen had a strange feeling in his gut about the newcomer's origin. His reaction to the friendly fat man seemed only to exacerbate the mystery man's suspiciousness.

Now Owen's interest was completely piqued. The man stared up in the sky in horror at an incoming jet, then knelt down and began to meditate. No one else nearby seemed to notice the man's bizarre behavior, but a moment later, he had their attention easily.

The spell was not an especially difficult one under most circumstances, but Raonull found himself straining to tap enough mana to invoke the protecting dragon. Never mind that the mountains were miles away from this artificial city; Raonull was used to that. It was almost as if something in the air in this city stifled the generation of mana. Being a powerful mage, though, Raonull was eventually able to overcome the effect and summon the dragon of Shiv. 

As soon as it materialized in midair, the citizens erupted into panic. Raonull could not understand how they feared a real dragon more than the artificial one in the air already, but realized that his creature had caused more consternation than he had anticipated. He was no diplomat, but Raonull knew that alarming the population of unknown territory is never a good strategy. With just a touch of blue mana, he Unsummoned the dragon.

Owen gaped in amazement as the strange man summoned and unsummoned a _dragon_. An actual dragon! Owen's original guesses were solidified: this man was definitely not from around here.

"Hey, what's your name, pal?" Owen found himself asking the magician, extending his hand amiably.

Raonull turned, suitably impressed by the general kindness of people in this area. He stared at the hand, confused, and answered,"I am called Raonull. And yourself?"

"Owen," came the reply. An awkward moment of silence reigned, but Owen could not help himself. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Do _what_? Summon a dragon! And then make it disappear!"

"That's simple magic, man. Any apprentice worth his salt can conjure up a Dragon Whelp, at least."

Owen looked around anxiously to ensure that no one had heard these comments. So far, the majority of people in the vicinity had not identified Raonull as the source of the dragon, but his strange attire could become a big hint.

"Come on," Owen said. "Let's talk somewhere private."

Raonull hesitated a bit, but decided to follow the man. He would need to learn about this strange environment, and as far as he could tell, this Owen was trustworthy. He just hoped that Owen would know something about inter-plane travel.

Yogini stared, bewildered. Her opponent's creature had disappeared, and so had her opponent. She waited for the Cabal to inform her what had happened, and went over to help the white mages take care of Purcell. The embermage was recovering, albeit very slowly, from the Minion's powerful attack. 

"Do I win?" she impertinently asked the audience. For once, the audience did not make a sound. Certainly, Raonull's disappearance had nothing to do with the young blue mage, but what else could explain it?

The First's voice boomed out, echoing in the stadium. "Do not worry about Raonull. I have teleported him to his residence to rest, since he was clearly the victor. Yogini cleverly cast Boomerang on the monster before it was able to destroy her, but Raonull expressed his noble wish that the fight end there."

The audience was reassured by the First's words, but what he said didn't make much sense. The First showing pity? A few audience members cheered half-heartedly, but none among them had come to this event to see a powerful mage show pity on an upstart blue mage. Disappointed, they began to shuffle out of the arena.

"I didn't cast any spell," Yogini whispered to the nearest healer.

"Hey, whatever, lady. You survived somehow. That guy was supposed to be the best fighter in all Otaria."

"I should go thank him for sparing me," Yogini thought, leaving the pit to some additional scattered applause. Everyone knew where the great Raonull lived, but he rarely entertained. She guessed he would make an exception for her. She left Purcell in the care of the well-trained healers, and started off for the champion's domicile.

Jelani chuckled as he watched Yogini leave from the top row of the audience. He, and he alone, had recognized Raonull's true fate, and he was not surprised that the First had not explained the truth. Interdimensional travel was Jelani's secret fascination; he had always suspected that something beyond planeswalking existed. Raonull was clearly not a planeswalker, and yet he had vanished. 

He followed the crowd out of the pits, and returned to his humble laboratory. For months he had been trying to identify the combination of effects that would allow interdimensional travel to occur. And now he had it. He hoped that he ended up in a world where there was no magic.

He hoped to conquer it.

Raonull was stunned. He had surmised from the people's reaction to the dragon that magic was not prevalent in this world, but to suggest that no one in this world possessed any form of magic whatsoever? Especially when the five mana types exist in such abundance!

"Tell me, Owen," Raonull said slowly, trying not to alarm his host, "you wouldn't happen to know how I might…return home, would you?"

Owen opened and closed his mouth, but no sound emerged. He sank slowly into his chair, breathing heavily. Raonull interpreted this reaction to mean "no."

"You don't?" Owen groaned, rubbing his temple. "How did you get here?" Owen asked.

Raonull began to relate his story, but stopped as Owen's attention shifted to a strange circular object on the wall.

"I'm late for work! Sorry, Raonull, I have to leave. Stay here and…don't touch anything, OK?"

With that, Owen left the room. Raonull was left alone to try to develop a way home. He had initially assumed that some sort of planeswalking effect had taken him here, but if no magic existed here at all, that conclusion seemed unlikely. If what Owen said was true, there weren't even any goblins or elves in the wilderness! 

The First stormed angrily to confront Yogini in front of Raonull's house. No one else was around, naturally, and Yogini was terrified to see the intimidating figure in such a strange environment. Whatever the First had to say must be extremely important.

"You won't find him there," the First called out in a low voice. Yogini chuckled; she recognized that tone. The First had expected to shock her; he didn't realize she had seen him. Still, his words shocked her, and she was able to feign the appropriate amount of surprise.

"Aah! Wh-what do you mean?"

"What did you do to him, Yogini? What spell did you cast before he disappeared?"

"I…cast a Time Warp on him."

"While he was under the influence of his own Time Walk."

"Yes…I think he did something to himself, though."

"Convalescent Care," the First nodded. "A clever tactic, given your Psychic Purge. As you know, magical damage becomes much more painful as death approaches."

Yogini nodded, but her face displayed confusion, not understanding. "I know that. But what happened to Raonull?"

"I believe that the combination of unconsciousness and the concurrent time spells have sent Raonull to another dimension."

"Dimension? Is that like a plane?"

"In a way, yes. It is not as easy to move between them, however. I'll explain everything later, but if Raonull is to return to this world, we have much preparation to do."

Hewitt Nedreak, Hewe to his friends, would scarcely be considered a good influence on anyone. With stereotypical glasses, a caustic sense of humor, and years of experience with Linux, he was rarely considered difficult to file into a social category. An acquaintance of Owen during their years at Columbia (Hewe was a computer science major; Owen philosophy), Hewe had been present at the appearance of the dragon. Unlike most of the audience, though, Hewe had thought he had recognized the shape of the dragon, and was walking home to investigate. On the way, he passed by Owen's humble apartment building, and decided to stop by. The two hadn't seen each other since graduation; almost ten years ago. Neither had found a reasonable job or a significant other as of yet.

Leaning against the call button, Hewitt said amiably, "You there, Owen?"

Instead of an answer, Hewe heard an unfamiliar gasp and some shuffling around. Hewe was pretty sure that Owen understood how the communication system works; he must have a friend over. Hewe shook his head and started to walk away, but over the microphone that was still on, he heard something that would change his life forever.

"By Urza!" a strange voice said through the speaker.

"What?!" Hewe gasped in shock, and raced back to the door. "Did you just say Urza? Who are you? Can you please let me in?"

Not too far away from Raonull's dwelling, Jelani was intensely reviewing the commentary from the duel. He had to find out what spells were cast that sent Raonull across dimensions. He knew that at least one of the spells in question was Time Walk. Scowling, he reflected that few mages in this plane were advanced enough to know that powerful spell. He would find someone, though. He could easily convince Yogini to give him a Time Warp, and the final spell didn't appear to be very difficult to learn. 

"Soon," Jelani whispered, unable to resist a bit of ominous narration, "soon I will arrive in this other dimension. And it will be mine!"

The ensuing maniacal laughter continued for several minutes as the audio commentary continued to play in the background.

(A/N: Will Hewitt discover the truth of Owen's visitor?H Will Raonull find a way home? Will Jelani find a way to another dimension? And what will the First and Yogini do? Find out…later. Don't forget to review!)


	3. Assembly

(A/N: Well, I have a long weekend and lots of free time, so I guess I'll write another chapter. If you want me to update more frequently, give me a review that tells me to; currently this is fairly low on my priorities. I do plan on finishing this eventually, though.

Also, whoops, html doesn't register white space. I'll make the transition between scenes clearer from now on, sorry.)

Chapter 3: Assembly

After giving a brief overview of the theoretical principles of interdimensional travel, the First grew gravely serious. "Listen to me carefully, Yogini. Jelani has ambitions beyond his power. He wants to travel to another dimension to conquer it-"

"Jelani? The black mage we trounced last week?"

"Correct. He will more than likely ask for your help in duplicating the event that led to Raonull's travel. You must help him."

"But-"

"Let me finish. As I explained, the best guess is that dimensional travel is achieved through portals. After Jelani goes through the portal, you and others will be free to follow."

"To try to stop him," Yogini nodded in understanding. "And what about Raonull?"

The First seemed surprised. "I had assumed that identical conditions would lead you to the same dimension as Raonull. By all indications that would be the case."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then we will-find another way," he replied firmly. "Do not be so doubtful."

"You're right, of course. I'm sorry."

"You must find other mages to accompany you. You don't know what level of magic exists in other dimensions; you and Purcell may not be strong enough alone."

Yogini nodded, and started to walk away when she heard the First's voice again.

"Yogini. Jelani does not know that I know of his plans. Do not alert him."

Nodding a third time, Yogini left the First alone in front of Raonull's house. He couldn't help wondering, _What if I am wrong?_

----------

With a bit of patience, Hewe was able to coach Raonull into opening the door. He rushed upstairs, took one look at Owen's "friend", and knew his suspicions were correct.

"When I was walking past the door down there, you said something, an exclamation. 'By Ezra', or something."

"Urza," Raonull corrected. "A great artificer who-"

"And that dragon you summoned and unsummoned," Hewe interrupted, unable to hide his enthusiasm. "It was a Shivan dragon, wasn't it?"

"What?!" Raonull gasped, staring at this strange man. "How do you know about Shiv? I would know if such a powerful mana source existed-"

"I'm sure you would," Hewitt replied, beaming and checking the clock. "Look, would you mind coming over to my house for a minute? I'm one of Owen's friends, he'll be OK with it."

Raonull was suspicious, but he reasoned that no one could actually threaten him without magic abilities. "All right, I'll come with you."

"Great! Let me write Owen a note."

----------

Chenoa was a well-respected mage, but not well-liked. She always said what needed to be said, never more or less. Nonetheless, she often found herself half of a team in the pits because of her great skill with white spells, especially healing. She immensely enjoyed surprising the young green and black mages by defeating her opponents without her teammates' help. 

Given all of this, she was very surprised to receive two consecutive visits that had nothing to do with the pits – one from a strange black mage who needed a Convalescent Care expert and another from the celebrity who escaped Raonull, who had a very bizarre proposition for her.

----------

To Haritha, magical aptitude was useless unless it was used for a reason. He didn't care what the reason was, just that it existed. Mages who use their power to show off or fool around annoyed him to no end. The green mage was well-known in Otaria for knowing everyone who mattered, just as much as he was known for his dramatic arguments with the First about refusing to fight in the pits. Calling them the "biggest waste of time and mana" in history, he was one of the only wizards known that didn't have to answer to the First's summons. For this reason, his doorstep was often swamped with rebellious admirers, jealous weaklings, and angry Cabal officials. 

Fearing the worst when he heard an especially impatient knock on his oaken door, Haritha was surprised to find a black mage who was searching for a mage proficient at the Time Walk spell. Of course, Haritha knew of such a person, but was curious as to the wizard's intentions. He discovered them soon afterward, when he was visited by a blue mage, a red mage, and a white mage. What they described was certainly a good reason to use his power.

----------

"Well? What is so important that you had to show me?" Raonull demanded immediately after walking through Hewitt's door.

"Come here," he replied, pulling out a large cardboard box. 

"What's this artifact do?"

"That's not an artifact, it's a microwave. It-look, don't worry about it. Look inside this box."

"Small pieces of canvas, with decorations and strange symbols."

"Strange symbols? You speak our language but don't-"

"We're speaking…English?" Raonull asked, remembering the name the fat man had used.

"That's right," Hewe replied, confused. "But try to focus here. Look at this."

"That picture-"

"It's a Shivan Dragon. And does this man look familiar?" Hewitt continued, pulling out another card.

"That-that's Urza!"

"Correct," Hewe answered gleefully. He was unsure of how to phrase his explanation, but he knew he had to. "Raonull, your dimension-"

A harsh noise interrupted Hewitt. "We're under attack!" Raonull yelled, gathering his strength.

"No, stop that! That's just the telephone. It's used to communicate across long distances. Hello?" he finished by picking up the phone and answering it. "Hey Owen, what's up? Yeah, he's here with me. You've got to come over here, dude. Yes, I _know_ he's not from around here, I saw him summon the dragon too."

Raonull still couldn't bring himself to accept the level of shock he generated by simply summoning a dragon. If these people only watched a pit fight!

"…no, I don't know how he got here, Owen, but seriously, get over here! OK. Yeah, OK. See you soon."

"You said there was no magic here!" Raonull yelled, pointing at a furry ball on the floor. "This is a cat warrior!"

"Uh, no, it's just a cat. Will you just stop-"

"And that! That is clearly a carnivorous plant!"

"No, that's a flower. Look, in this world, nothing is dangerous except, well, other humans."

"There are no cloudscrapers or elephants?"

"Um, we have elephants, but people hunt them for sport."

"I will never understand this world," Raonull decided, shaking his head and sitting down to rest.

"That's certainly true, Raonull. That's certainly true."

----------

In exchange for the valuable Necropotence skill, Jelani finally learned Time Walk. He had no idea he and Yogini were being followed by three other mages, but resolved to immediately start his experimentation. 

"Thank you so much for agreeing to help me, Yogini."

"It's no problem," she answered, trying to determine if he suspected anything. "I don't see what good it will do outside of battle, but-"

Jelani seemed mildly surprised that she didn't make the connection to the pit fight, but chose not to comment. He simply said, "I'm ready."

He cast Time Walk, and on cue, Yogini cast her Time Warp spell. As Jelani started his Convalescent Care, he felt himself moving even as he fell unconscious.

"That's incredible!" Chenoa whispered, watching through a window.

Soon, Jelani had disappeared. Yogini threw the door open with a blast of wind, and the four mages quickly jumped through the portal. Soon, Jelani's house was completely empty. The First watched from a window on the other side of the house, nodding in approval. _Good luck_, he thought.

----------

"All right, what's so important, Hewe?" Owen demanded after Hewitt let him in. 

"He seems to have figured out something that you did not," Raonull commented. "Something to do with those pieces of parchment."

Owen followed Raonull's gaze to a cardboard box on the floor. "Hewe, what-"

"Look at this," he said simply, showing Owen the card that he had shown Raonull before.

"Yeah, it's a Magic card, I know you collect them."

"No, _look_ at it."

"Shivan dragon," he read, still unimpressed. "Why do you think this has anything to do with-_wait_ a minute…" Owen spun around and stared at Raonull agape. "You're telling me this guy comes from Magic card land?"

"Otaria," Hewitt corrected. "Right?"

Raonull nodded, shocked and confused. "Magic…card?"

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything," Hewe said.

"You'd better," Owen answered quickly, still amazed at the coincidence.

----------

Yogini, Purcell, Chenoa, and Haritha arrived soon afterward in New York City. Unlike Raonull, they had no one to greet them, but immediately looked around for any signs of the malevolent sorcerer.

"Anyone see him?" Yogini demanded.

"You lookin' for somebody?" a nearby jogger asked.

"Yes. Have you seen someone…clothed like we are, but wearing black?" Haritha asked politely.

"Nope, but I saw a weird-lookin' guy before, just before the dragon appeared."

"Weird-looking?" Chenoa whispered. "Maybe that was Raonull."

Nodding, Purcell said, "Thank you, ma'am."

"Ma'am, huh? Haven't heard that in a while…"

As the jogger jogged away, Yogini breathed a sigh of relief. "At least we know Raonull is here. Now all we have to do is find Jelani, beat him up a little, convince him to cast those spells again, and hopefully we'll all end up at home!"

"That's pretty optimistic," Chenoa commented, scowling. "We don't even know how the process works."

"But it's worked pretty well so far," Haritha replied. "Come on, someone around here must have seen Jelani."

----------

Laughing, Jelani settled into a nearby house. It turned out to be inhabited, but he took care of that quickly with a subtle rat infestation. Of course he knew that Yogini the heroine would try to follow him through; he wasn't expecting a whole team though. Upon arrival he had quickly drained the life of a bystander, stolen his clothes, and fed the body to a Scathe Zombie, so no one would be able to help the poor heroes on the streets find him. If these four met up with Raonull, it would certainly be difficult to continue with his plans to conquer this dimension, but Jelani felt confident that he could find a solution. Still laughing, he watched the mages wander around the strange world, lost and confused, and knew immediately how he could defeat them. 

(A/N: How does the dimension-hopping process work? What is in store for the five heroic mages in this strange world? How will Raonull react to Hewitt's encyclopedic knowledge of his repertoire of spells? Find out someday…)


	4. Adaptation

(A/N: What! An update! Yeah, I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I updated last, and I'm really sorry. Hopefully it'll be at least somewhat more frequent.

Blake: I don't really plan to read any of the official books; I've heard mostly bad things about them in general. It's not so much that I like pit fighting, but it lends itself well to original characters. Thanks for correcting me about The First, but I think I'll leave this the way it is. Just assume Yogini was wearing some kind of magical nose plug.

Jaymes: Thanks a lot for your comments. I'll try to update more often.

grondring: My original summary admitted that the story was a bit cliché, but then I didn't get many reviews…plus, I hope this is suitably original given the somewhat trite plot devices.

R-Krulle: I'm just coming back to Magic as well. I wasn't that impressed with what I heard about the whole Otaria storyline either, but as I said, it's a nice place to develop original characters…)

Chapter 4: Adaptation

"Do you understand all this?" Hewe asked, after about a half hour of explanation.

The answer was no, not at all. But Raonull nodded weakly, staring closely at the Shivan Dragon card for the twentieth time. "So the humans in this world compensate for their lack of magical ability by playing card games?"

Hewe was at a loss here, but Owen chuckled and nodded. "I guess so, Raonull. You never played a game where you pretended to be someone else?"

"Actually, no. The games I play are-"

"You're a pit fighter?" Hewitt gasped, beaming. "Oh, I would _love_ to do that! You get to be-"

"It's a very serious thing," Raonull scowled. "I just call it a game because everyone else does, but in reality it's more dangerous than anything you humans could imagine."

"I wouldn't be so optimistic," Owen replied grimly. Hewe nodded to placate his friend, but seemed much more interested in what Raonull had to say.

"The clerics that work for the Cabal are constantly working," Raonull continued, "I know one of them; he hasn't slept in weeks, and-what!"

Raonull leapt up again, facing the door menacingly, listening to the eerie chimes echo in the still air.

"It's the doorbell. Sit down," Hewe sighed. "Actually, scratch that. Go into the bathroom and close the door. No need to advertise the fact that you're here."

Raonull nodded and looked around, trying not to seem too helpless.

"That one, Raonull," Owen couldn't hide a grin.

"And Raonull," Hewitt whispered urgently as he reached for the doorknob, "_don't touch anything_. Ah, Phil, good to see you."

A man looking strikingly similar to Hewitt in dress and stature breezed through the threshold just as the bathroom door conspicuously slammed shut.

"You know my friend Owen," Hewitt said, chuckling nervously.

"Sure, sure. And there's someone else here, too?" Phil asked, nodding towards the bathroom.

"No, actually that was just…er…the wind. Here, sit down."

Owen stood awkwardly as the two men sat down across from each other and pulled out neatly sleeved Magic decks.

"Owen, Phil comes over every so often to play me in Magic," Hewitt explained, somewhat superfluously.

"Unannounced?" Owen wondered, trying not to sound overly surprised.

"Sure, you have to catch people when they're not in the right mood for a match, you know?" Phil's answer was accompanied by a jovial wink; Owen could find a response to neither.

-

"How do we know what we're looking for exactly?" Purcell grumbled impatiently. "How long until we decide we're in the wrong dimension?"

"Oh, stop it," Yogini shot back. "If the locals saw a dragon appear here earlier, this has to be the right place. There's certainly not enough mana in the air for that kind of thing to happen often."

Nodding, Chenoa added, "Something about this place just feels strange to me. The sooner we find Raonull the happier I'll be."

"Me too," agreed Haritha. "It seems almost stifling; as if someone doesn't want us to-"

"Stop! THIEF!"

The four mages whirled around to see a young blonde woman shrieking at a boy wearing a large cap and carrying a very pink purse. They looked at each other tentatively, then Haritha shot his arm out.

Cracks began to appear in the pavement, then suddenly a huge vine erupted from the sidewalk. As it wrapped tightly around the youth's free arm, Haritha gestured menacingly for the purse. The terrified child tossed it over, opening his mouth wordlessly, and raced away as soon as the vine was unsummoned.

"Sorry I can't fix your trail," Haritha said loudly to the astonished passersby. Turning to the others, he added quietly, "We should leave."

-

_Excellent_, Jelani mused, _they have revealed themselves_. In this subdued environment, any use of magic was blatantly obvious to nearby mages. _It won't be long before they'll be too far separated from Raonull to ever find him_.

He knew he had to play his hand now, before they got too close to each other. Browsing disdainfully through the wardrobe of the previous owner, he prepared for a walk.

-

"How did you do that?" Purcell wondered incredulously. "I could barely summon enough mana to fire off a Lightning Bolt!"

"Wild Growth isn't much more costly," Haritha replied modestly, "but we're going to have to adapt to this. Jelani certainly will, and Raonull apparently has."

With a nod, Yogini put in, "If he's nearby, Jelani will probably know we're here now."

"I know, but I had no choice," Haritha replied. "I couldn't just-"

"This way," Chenoa decided arbitrarily, pointing down a long and busy street. "I think we're close."

"Yeah, but close to whom?" Purcell muttered. No one heard him.

-

As Phil and Hewe cut each other's decks and drew their hands, each whistling appreciatively, Owen couldn't hold in his anxiety any longer.

"Do you really think this is a _good time_ for this, Hewe?" he asked pointedly.

"Of course it is," Hewitt replied just as emphatically as he played a land and a Bonesplitter. "We're all free; nothing's going on, what could-"

"That doesn't look like the card you showed me before," Owen stated, exasperatedly trying to change the subject.

"Oh…no, Magic cards look different now after the latest base set and expansion." Phil put in, sounding important.

"Latest expansion?" a voice came from the bathroom. Owen quickly cleared his throat and said, "Ahem…latest expansion?"

Seeing that Phil was beginning to look suspicious, Hewitt answered, "Yeah, the storyline we were talking about before is actually outdated; now there's a whole new story with brand new and powerful cards that-"

"We must leave immediately!" Raonull exclaimed, thrusting the bathroom door open and glaring at Hewitt. "Why didn't you tell me this first?"

There was a very long moment of silence. Phil then said, "Hewe, there appears to be a strange man in your house."

"Uh, yeah," Hewe stuttered, glaring discreetly at Raonull. "Yeah, he needed to, uh, use my phone, and then he had to go to the bathroom, so-"

"It kind of sounded like he knew you," Phil interrupted, his voice indecipherable.

Either ignorant to or uninterested in Hewitt's fierce looks, Raonull continued urgently, "Where is the nearest market for these cards?"

"You mean the card store?" Phil answered first, always trying to be helpful. "Oh, a couple of miles."

"Is that far?" Raonull whispered to Owen. Owen nodded uncomfortably; he had a feeling he knew what was in store. "Lead me. You two may remain and continue your match."

At a loss for words, Phil watched as Owen shuffled uncomfortably outside. Owen yelped as Raonull broke into a run as soon as his feet reached the sidewalk.

Phil regained his voice soon after and demanded, "What's going on, Hewe?"

Hewitt watched uncomfortably as the two men raced away from his house. "Uh…yeah, I was trading with him before; that's why my cards are all out. He, uh, likes to get in character."

"Why did you pretend he wasn't here?" Phil wondered, not entirely satisfied.

"Wouldn't you?" Hewitt replied quickly, picking up his cards again. "Come on, you're just trying to distract me because you're losing."

"_I'm_ trying to distract _you_?" Phil repeated, but he sounded more bemused than indignant. The game continued.

-

"Was that really necessary?" Owen panted, trying to keep up with the otherworldly mage.

"Yes," Raonull replied, not sounding at all out of breath.

After a short pause, Owen growled, "OK, _why_ was that really necessary?"

"I'll explain when we get there," Raonull answered, waiting at an intersection for Owen's direction. "I need to save my breath."

"_You_ need to-" Owen began, but he couldn't find the words to continue his thought. "You don't-hey, _stop_!"

Honks and screeches ensued as Raonull stopped, bewildered, in the middle of a busy street. Cringing at the cacophony, he resisted the urge to Shatter the offending artifacts and returned sheepishly to Owen.

"Look, I know you're in a hurry, but in this city, the cars kind of expect you to stop for them."

"Cars," Raonull repeated, trying to adapt to the environment. "Why didn't you warn me about this before?"

"You just-" Owen once again found himself speechless. "Never mind. Slow down a little, would you? We're almost there."

-

"I think we should change our clothes." Chenoa suggested. "The wardrobes in this dimension seem quite different from ours, and since we already revealed we're not quite from around here…"

"Good point," Haritha nodded thoughtfully. "The problem is, all of these shops look the same. I don't know how one can determine what they're actually selling."

"We could just-"

"No." Yogini interrupted her dueling partner quickly; she had a feeling she knew what the red mage would suggest. "We need to keep our profiles low. I'll just set up an illusion for now so it will look like we're dressed normally, but we don't know how long we're going to-" She stopped abruptly before she could finish her thought. Looking around anxiously at her allies, she cringed and quickly added, "I'm sorry - I didn't mean that-"

"Jelani's presumably expecting to find a way back," Purcell suggested, trying to seem optimistic.

Chenoa frowned. "I doubt it. Why do you think he wanted to come here in the first place?"

"What do you-" Haritha started to ask, then gasped audibly. "You don't think he wants to-"

"Take over the world?" Chenoa completed dryly. "He _is_ a black mage, you know."

"I know white mages and black mages don't exactly get along, but don't you think that's going a bit too far?" Yogini wondered, glancing around to gauge the opinions of the others.

Suddenly, all four of them snapped to attention. A massive burst of magical energy several miles to the south practically begged for their attention.

"Guess we're about to find out," Purcell grinned, letting lightning course through his fingers.

-

Jelani strolled casually down a different street, checking around for any sign of magic. He could only hope that the mages had not found each other yet; he needed to find one group first. Pausing to listen for any signs of dragons in the air, a large ornate advertisement in a store window grabbed his attention. He walked over to confirm what he had seen: "BUY MAGIC HERE!"

(A/N: What was the burst of energy? What is Jelani up to? Will Raonull and Owen reach him in time? What does Phil suspect? How long will it be until I update again? Find out…um…when I update again.)


End file.
